Well, if you're a visitor this morning, we are going through the Gospel of John, the Gospel of John, and we are really right in this center of this narrative and this study of the woman at the well, and this morning we come to John chapter 4, verse 27 through 42. 27 through 42, and what a section this is. So we will continue this study here in John 4. Jesus has just told the woman at the well that he is the Messiah, and that has had a great effect upon her. Life has been given to her, as we'll see today. And now there's a great contrast that takes place between the perspective of the woman at the well and the perspective of the disciples, and Jesus now has work to do on his own disciples. So that's what's in front of us, beginning at verse 27. Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman. But no one said, what do you seek? Or why are you talking with her? So the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people, come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? They went out of the town and were coming to him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him something to eat? Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say there are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you've entered into their labor. Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe. For we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. And there ends the reading of God's Word. We are really meeting our Savior in our study of the Gospel of John. It is a wonderful book to see him and to study him. everything about uh john's gospel is really showing us his pursuit of sinners and people who have a lot of problems in their lives who are in need of his salvation it's a beautiful truth that is constantly set in front of us in this book uh it's showing us the truth of what was said right in in john chapter one that he is full of grace and truth he is full of steadfast love and mercy he is showing us this put on display as he is coming after people and fulfilling as we've looked at the calendar the appointments that the father has given to him to fulfill all righteousness christ is relentless in pursuing the salvation of people you'll notice that here nothing will pull him off that path nothing will pull him off the work that was given him to do by his father and he has to come and overcome great obstacles, that being giving dead hearts life. This is really what we're studying in the Gospel of John. It's a book of life, it's a book of belief, and I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly. Well, we saw last week as we studied this woman at the well, he had uncovered her life with his light. He knew everything about her. He knew everything she had ever done. And she had asked the question last time, and I'm not rehearsing all that again because we did a part one and two last week. But she had asked the question at the end that was a sincere question. Where do I go to get essentially this forgiveness? Because the Jews only say you can worship on this mountain, and we the Samaritans have our mountain. So if it's true, and it's true, you've exposed my life, where am I supposed to go to be forgiven? And this is where Jesus is showing us where we need to go. He is the mountain. He is the fountain. He is sitting on Jacob's fountain there, the well. Remember, he was sitting on it. He's claimed all of this, all the spots of Israel's history, all the symbols, all the things that they believed about, certain significance of things, he's claimed it. I am the temple, he says. so that the truth being they need to come to him and this is the beautiful truth that by the time he was done with the woman at the well by the time he had engaged her and witnessed to her and confronted her about her sin she was filled with this living water well that's where we pick up today as we continue this this theme of spiritual blindness that john has been showing us. This is the great challenge in the book of John. And now we are looking particularly and specifically at the problem of spiritual blindness with regard to Jesus's mission and purpose. Spiritual blindness with regard to Jesus's mission and his purpose. It's spiritual blindness now on the part of his own disciples who do not understand what Jesus is here to accomplish. And that, of course, if this is not corrected, is going to have disastrous results in the life of their own ministries, for he's training them to go out and be his disciples to the ends of the earth, apostles. And that's what this is building today, that really in front of the disciples, a grand declaration is made that must have been startling to them. We read it, but it really is the heart and center of this whole section where the Samaritans say, You don't have to, I don't have to listen anymore to the witness of the woman. We have heard from him, and now we know, here it is, the big moment, that he is the Savior of the world. I wonder what the disciples said and thought when they heard that. Huh? I want us to be challenged a little bit with this today then, as to our purpose as a church, to think about what our purpose is as Christians and to understand our mission and understand our purpose through the salvation of the woman at the well. That's the intention of this. That's the help to this for the church and for the disciples. So you know what's happened here. He has filled this Samaritan woman known as a great sinner. Remember, she had had five husbands and the one she had now was not her husband. It was somebody else's. Jesus has exposed this. She was known as a great sinner, and now she has been filled with exactly what he described in this section as living water. Living water. Now, no one would have imagined or expected, as we see here, that Jesus would have come for somebody like this. In fact, that's the effect that you're supposed to have when reading verse 27. And at this point, his disciples came and they marveled that he talked with a woman. Which to which you say, listen, all the problems of society today have always been problems. Sometimes we act like the great sins that society has made as the unpardonable sins of what we now label as misogyny. Or what we now label as racism. This is part and parcel of being human beings fallen. This is what we do. This is who we are. This is the problem everywhere that's exposed. And here you'll notice that they are shocked that Jesus himself is talking with a woman. We looked at this last time. This didn't happen in these cultures. But I want you to notice the time indicator there, because John is doing something that is meant to help us this morning. You'll notice that verse 27 says very specifically, just then at what point is he talking about when he declared who he is just then when he said i am the messiah just then his disciples walk up his disciples had gone you remember at the beginning of um chapter four it's they had gone to get food you'll notice that's a big emphasis here that just then he had walked. They had been traveling and they had gone to get food. I want you to keep in mind that when they walk back, they come across Jesus speaking to this woman. Jews did not speak with Samaritans. Most of all, rabbis would not talk with women or especially adulteresses. This is indicating the problem of all these barriers that have been erected that eliminate for the very purpose of the Jews being the light to the world, salvations from the Jews that have eliminated the possibility of salvation to the nations. This is the problem. All these barriers. So they are really amazed. Everything's kept inward. They're saying inside, I cannot believe he's talking with a woman. I can't believe he's doing that. Now what happens next is rather fascinating. great contrast takes place. You'll notice in verse 28 that the woman then, so the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? She knows it is, but this is the way she's speaking of him. Right then, she leaves, she goes back to the Samaritan town and begins to witness to Jesus. Could this be the Christ? I want you to hear a man who told me everything that I've ever done in my life. So think about the scene. There's this going in and coming out, going on here. A contrast is really important that's made for us. She leaves behind her water pot. Remember, she was going to get physical water. The indication is she no longer needs that water. She doesn't have to keep coming back to get that water. She's been filled with living water. She has now left her water pot, and she is now filled with the water with which she will never have to thirst again. And now she's gone to the city to do what? Well, your translation doesn't pick this up, but I think it's absolutely fascinating that it says there. So the woman left her water jar and went away to the town and said to the people, the word is Anthropos. So she went to the town and she said to the men, the men know her. She's had five husbands. And her concern is, is to take the gospel to all these men who know everything about her. She now cares for them. She now wants them to find living water. She wants them to be filled with what she has been filled with. It's a really beautiful section that she is concerned about them. She's not bitter. She's been satisfied. She's been forgiven. She wants them to enjoy what she has enjoyed. And what has happened here is that this water, just as Jesus said, When you're filled with living water, it springs up to everlasting life in you. It springs up. But now the great exchange occurs. She leaves the pot, she heads into the city, and directly in her path are the disciples carrying hand buttons. You should know that. They're excited about the food. She has gone into the city. She is going to bring back the city, the disciples have gone into the city, and they got food. The whole time, they have been in the same city, and all they have brought back is good food. Something's wrong. And John wants you to feel that. John wants you to see that. The contrast is on purpose. John is exposing their spiritual blindness now to Jesus' mission. The twelve had nothing on their minds. This is so crucial for the text today. The twelve had nothing on their minds about bringing people to Jesus. Yet this one woman, it seems to me, brings back the city to him. That's meant to have an effect on us. That's meant to challenge us. I want you to remember Jesus took them out on numerous fishing trips. And Jesus would tell them to lower the nets. And then they would lower their nets and it would be frustrating. And then he would say, throw it to this side of the boat. And finally they would pull it up and there would be so many fish. And then he would make it a moment of application. He'd say, no longer are you fishers of food. You're fishers of men. This is what he was doing the whole time. He had to reinstate Peter after in John 21 to this very problem. And he taught them again, you are going to be fishers of men. Not even on their radar. They have not got this yet. So, here we are. Jesus has said something very important. He will say in the course of his ministry, he says it to us. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to everlasting life. Have you ever thought, what is he talking about when he says that? Don't labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man gives. Have you noticed what's happened with this woman? She's been given living water, and what is it doing? It's bursting. It's springing up. Something has happened to her. You want to know what salvation looks like? Here you go. She can't help but talk about him. She can't help but talk about him. You think of all these accounts of these broken women who have come to Jesus. She was forgiven much, therefore she loves much. Right? The concealing's over. That's the beautiful part here. In other words, she had had bad sin she was living in her whole life. She was involved with a major sexual problem in her whole life. and all of the guilt, all of the bad sin, all of the sorrow, all the condemnation, all of the struggle, all the guilt and pain that she bore all the time, she didn't want to talk about. But listen, the conviction of sin is the end of concealing sin. The conviction of sin is the end of your concealing. Isn't that what occurs? Jesus, coming to Jesus, does he throw down condemnation on her? Instead, he fills her with what she needs. And that water is so satisfying to her. It fills your thoughts, it fills your desires, it fills the void that we're all looking for and searching for in this life, of things that you're trying to fill your life with, that you run to under all the stress and all the pressure of it all. And when you're filled, you now want others to know. That's what happens. I remember there was a man in a major position of leadership, superintendent of a school, and he was a proud man. And then it came out after some time that he was stuck deep, deep, deep, deep in alcoholism. When that sin found him out, what followed was something so beautiful. It was this broken, contrite, soft man that you now wanted to be around because the softness of him, the genuineness of him was so evident to everyone. Nothing more was hidden. It was over. And his life was now helping others through this very same problem. This is her. You know something's happened when now you're caring for others. It's not just about you. Verse 28 tells us that now the city is coming out to him. And I want to come back to that thought. I want you to pause this here. But verse 31 picks up again and sandwiched, that's pun intended, Between this is this discussion now with his own disciples. In the meantime, woman's gone. She's going to get people. Disciples urge him, Rabbi, eat. Verse 6 tells us Jesus was very weary from the journey. So they have food. They've gone into the city to get the sandwiches. I thought about trying to apply that in Escondido, but there's just no good restaurants here to do it, that we know where the best food is. Rabbi, eat. We all know where to go eat. We all know where to get the best food. We love food. I have a food to eat, verse 32, of which you don't know about. Here we go again. Really. I mean, this is now par for the course. He keeps doing this everywhere he goes. Destroy this temple and I'll raise it up in three days. What? It took 46 years to build this temple. Why are you talking like that? Nicodemus, you need to be born again. What are you talking about? Do I need to go get in my mom's womb again? You need living water. How do I get a bucket big enough to go get it so that I don't have to keep coming back? All of that is past them. They can't understand it. I have a food to eat that you don't know. Rabbi, eat. I have a food that you don't know. What? Did anyone give him something to eat? That was precious. You can say that. Good answer. This is the fourth time. So notice what happens here. How do you take this? In every case, you have here this witness of Christ, and he's showing us this deadness in people. Spiritual deadness. But here's another kind of spiritual deadness that I think is at the heart of the Gospel of John that's exposed in followers of Jesus. Why are they followers? You see, that's an important question, isn't it? That's a really important question. Why are you a follower of Jesus? Why are you here? Do they have any idea? What does it mean to be a follower? I'm not talking about coming to Jesus and receiving life from him. I'm talking about receiving that life and then becoming a follower. What does that look like? What is that? What is a Christian? You've made some kind of commitment, right? What does it look like? It's easy to say, I'm a Christian. But here's the point. and not enter into the purpose which Jesus has for the Christian. It's easy to say that, and not enter into the purpose for which Jesus has you as his Christian. Do we think Christianity is just sitting in a pew? Do we think it's coming to church once and doing all that we can do to stay away from it? Is that Christianity? Just putting in enough. They have entered a city of their enemies. Northern kingdom, remember we looked at, and they've been mixed up with the Babylonic kingdoms, and they've intermarried, and they're just half-breed rebels to the Jews, the Samaritans. They have entered the city of their enemies, and all they brought back is food, and this half-breed, in their idea, sinner, has gone back and is bringing out the city to Jesus. I have a food to eat which you don't know. My food, listen to what he says, verse 34. It's really, really powerful stuff. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you know why I've come? It's not for a life of good food. It's not eat, drink, and be merry. It's not why I'm here. It's not why you're here. Do you know what sustains me in this life, dear brothers? He's saying this to them. Do you know what sustains my life? It is doing the will of him who sent me. It's the work he gave me to do. That's my food. And what does the food look like? I've already told the woman at the well, the father is seeking worshipers. So the Father's will is, and he says it plainly in John 12, the Father who sent me has given me a commandment. Now think about that statement. The Father who sent me gave me singularly a commandment. What to say and what to speak. And I know that this commandment is eternal life. So what he's saying there is, what sustains me in this life is the food the Father gave me, and the food the Father gave me is to go save people. That's my food. That's what keeps me up. That's what keeps me going. The source of my strength, the way I sustain is by my own, not by, you'll notice here, not just by eating physical food, much as he needed that in his humanity, It is to give eternal life and be the Savior of the world. This is John's way of saying, I don't live by bread alone. But by his command, and that command is salvation. You see how intent and focused he is to save, and nothing's going to stop him. Now the disciples and the followers of Christ have not understood this purpose, this purpose nor have they understood their purpose and do you think that's a problem today i think it's a big problem today you have a world that's perishing right in front of us and what do we think christianity is god has given us a lot of comforts in this life and been kind to us that way in america we we just watch as a family last night Grapes of Wrath in black and white. You should go watch that movie. All those Oklahoma Dust Bowl people on a car, they have no money to get bread. He's given us a comfortable life. Do we understand why we're here? We are about today what's ever convenient in our Christianity. This woman is a divorcee, in their eyes, an adulteress. Why should she get grace? They haven't entered into the food. They haven't entered into the will. This is how they're thinking. This is where it's absolutely true that people Jesus talked with, the people Jesus visit, I know this has been an abused discussion, but the people he would bring into the church would make us uncomfortable. Because he would be pulling from every walk of life. He would be pulling the drug dealer that threw the shoes up over the line. He'd be pulling in the prostitute. He'd be pulling in the academic theologian. He'd be pulling in the heretic. And he'd be pulling in the corrupt CEO. This is who he'd go get. And the people who have everything might say, that bothers us. So how does Jesus challenge them? Verse 35. Don't you say there are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, one sows and another reaps. hold that. Just think about that for a second. We've had farmers in this church. You know exactly what he's saying. The big moment for the farmer is the harvest. It's a lot of work to get to the harvest. You've got a plant. You've got bugs to deal with. And then you've got this long time and then finally the harvest comes. And that's the exciting time. They knew that in Israel's history. When the harvest came, everyone rejoiced. That's when the feasts happened. I think we think in the church like this today, the harvest is just the end. The harvest is now. You feel this? Stop thinking like a farmer. I want you to see what he says. I say to you, lift up your eyes and look right now. Disciples, you're in the scene here. Disciples, lift up your eyes and look. Remember, we're back and forth with scenes. Lift up your eyes and look. The fields are white for the harvest. What did he just say? Jesus is opening the spiritual eyes of his disciples to understand their purpose. What he just said was, I'm bringing together, sowing and reaping. Together. What does that mean? What does that look like? There was a prophecy of this. Amos prophesied about, lo and behold, the northern kingdom. Samaria. And here's what Amos said. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, him who sows seed. The mountain shall drip with sweet wine and the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of my people. This is it. This is the northern kingdom coming back. We're on a mission to reap souls. The sowing's done. Look up. Look up. And as he says that, I want you to think, I have sent you to reap that for which you've not labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labors. I sent you to reap. Others have labored. Who? It could be the prophets. Or is it the woman? She just went out and shared her faith and brought a city back. It's Jesus' work through this woman that as she has gone and got the city, as they're coming back, he says, look, look at the hills right now. Look up, look up. And there comes the Samaritans. Your eyes are on yourselves. You're worried about your bellies. Worried about earthly things. We're worried today about the economy. We're worried today about bank accounts. I'm worried today about the most trivial of things. You, you, you. Look up. Look up. The fields are white for the harvest. No crops had a white harvest. What's he talking about? For centuries, you know how the Samaritans dressed? They all wore white robes. So as they're looking up, here comes the woman and all these Samaritan men in white robes to Jesus. There's your harvest. Go get them. Verse 40 says, so the Samaritans came to him. She went in the city and told them all that Christ had done for them. Come see a man that has done these things for me. And I wonder what the disciples thought. You just chose our enemies. You just chose our enemies and are bringing them through this divorced woman. Yeah. Enter into the labor. Enter into the labor. Someone said to me the other day, you know, the building has been such a blessing to us. And I think that's absolutely true. There's a sort of vibrancy here right now. When I pick songs, you can sing. There really is. There really is. There's a vibrancy. Somebody said, you know, we kind of woke up a little bit. Well, if that's true and you sense that, then go invite your neighbors. Isn't that the application of this? Bring them to the feet of the cross. Bring them to Jesus. Bring them to where he's made known. Bring them to the word. Have you ever invited anyone? Or do you want to sit alone on your hilltop? Bite them. I think that's a basic application of this. And verse 39 encourages us in that, doesn't it? It says, many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything I ever did. It wasn't a great testimony. In other words, she didn't go out and have to open up the Heidelberg with them in detail, did she? Let me tell you what he did for me. Here they come. They're prepared. The Lord prepared them. But here's the beauty of this. So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them two days, and many more believed because of his word. Then they said to the woman, this is such a crucial statement, it's no longer because of what you said that we believe. It's not resting on you. For we have heard ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. you see i i believe that's why god puts the pulpit in place and i believe that's why it's so important we have all thought that we got to go out and leave out instead of going out to bring in so that people will sit under the gospel and say that's not a human word that's a word that has searched and tried my own heart that's a word that got into my heart that's a word that has broke through my hard heart and I see there's something way more to this there's a savior and he's been kind to make his gospel known to the ends of the earth the father is seeking worshipers worshipers don't have to go anymore to Jerusalem did you know that's why we never want a rebuilt temple by the way a rebuilt temple would be the worst thing in the world because he says you don't have to do that. Wherever you come together as his people, there he is. You see, when we're filled with living water, it should be bursting out of our hearts. Jesus is saying, look at your lives and now look up. I have made the fields ready for harvest. They're coming. They're coming. Look around, they're coming. Are you ready for them? Are you happy about them? Adulterers and adulteresses, sinners, divorced, forgiven. You see, the most beautiful truth here is what is said by the Samaritans. We know that he is the Savior of the world, of all peoples. and Jesus has just invited us into that work. He has just invited us to see that the fields are white for the harvest and to understand that the same living water that has filled us is the greatest need for this lost and dying world. Look up. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word this morning, and thank you, Lord. We bless the name of the Lord for your salvation and who's sufficient for these things. We're thankful it doesn't rest on us, but thank you that you challenge us to be upward looking and to not be so focused on us and to realize there's a great purpose for which you left us here. Thank you for the ministry of your church. Thank you for your kingdom. Let, Lord, many hear through us speaking of what you've done for us no longer hiding our lives which is so crucial to this but being willing to say I've sinned and now hear what the Lord has done for me. We praise the name of the Lord and we thank you for our Savior the Savior of the world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.